Baku : Ace Indian shooters Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang and Kynan Chenai narrowly missed out on medals after qualifying for the finals of their respective events at the ISSF World Cup here on Thursday.
The three Olympic bound shooters, led by Bindra, struck form just over a month ahead of the quadrennial sporting extravaganza, as they put in commanding performances along with high scores to reach the final rounds of their respective events in Baku, which is hosting the final International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup stage (Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun) of the year.
Bindra, India’s only individual Olympic gold medallist and Narang, London 2012 bronze winner, reached the eight-man final of the men’s 10m air rifle event, while youngster Chenai, who will be embarking upon his first Olympics also reached the six-men trap final.
Bindra eventually finished sixth in the event after having shot a solid 627.4 in qualifying to make the final in fourth position. Narang shot 626.6 to qualify for the final round in sixth place, before eventually settling for seventh position in the final standings.
Chenai shot a superb 123 out of 125 to qualify for the finals in second place. In the final rounds, he was the first to be eliminated, having shot 12 birds out of 15 to end in sixth place. This was Kynan’s second World Cup final round appearance in trap.
Among the other Indians in the fray, Chain Singh in the men’s 10m air rifle, who will also be taking the flight to Rio come end July, shot a subdued 623.7 to finish in 25th place.
Prithviraj Tondaiman also finished in 25th place, in the men’s trap, having shot a score of 116 in qualifying. The third Indian in men’s trap, Zoravar Singh Sandhu, also shot the same score to finish 27th.
In the day’s third medal event, the women’s 10m air pistol, India’s Heena Sidhu shot 379 in qualifying to finish in 26th spot, while compatriot Shweta Singh shot 376 to end in 39th place. Anisa Sayed shot 369 in the same event to end in 54th position.
